Closeted Memories
by Kuroi Fushichou
Summary: He would rather leave some stones unturned then face the truth. Sasuke left, wreaking a path of carnage. Can he really ignore that? Maybe Naruto should've confronted the specter in the closet after all. Pre-Time Skip, Post-Sasuke Retrieval Arc.


**Disclaimer: I own nothing... but my soul XD**

**_Closeted Memories_**

**xX Start Xx**

Naruto never used to be scared of his closet.

He didn't used to avoid looking into the shadows behind his clothes' hangers.

Originally Naruto had hung seven orange jackets in his closet.

Only six remained.

He didn't like to think about the lonely torn jacket which sat folded on the floor at the back of his closet. Naruto didn't like to remember why it was torn.

It had surprised him when Shizune had come to him the day before he was released from the hospital, carrying a black bag and a fresh set of clothes from his apartment.

He had been so glad to be out of his hospital gown that he had totally ignored the bag which the black haired young woman had left on his bed before she had returned to her duties. Only after he had changed did Naruto curiously look to see what was inside it.

His blue eyes had widen in shock as he peered into the bag; recognizing the bright orange color too well. Naruto had slowly pulled the jacket from the bag; to his fingers the fabric was rough and synthetic. His eyes were unwillingly drawn to the large hole, the size of a widespread palm, which cut through the left chest of the jacket…

Where his lung had been…

Where his air had been…

Where his blood had been…

Where his heart had been…

Where Sasuke's hand had shoved through his chest.

Naruto had hastily stuffed the jacket into bag and then roughly shoved the bag under his hospital bed. He didn't want to remember that; not then… Not ever.

That night he slept fitfully, dreaming of laughter which became sobs and blood which was actually a pair of eyes.

He woke early and left, overly aware of the curious gaze of the receptionist that watched the silhouette of the blond boy and the bag he carried, as he faded in with the predawn darkness. When Naruto got home he took the jacket from the bag and, without looking at it, folded it neatly and set in the furthest darkest corner of his closet.

Over many weeks he forgot about the jacket which resided at the back of his closet, or so he told himself. He never counted the number of jackets left on his hangers and he developed an odd habit of quickly grabbing his clothes before slamming his closet door resoundingly shut.

When Jiraiya came to collect his student Naruto was glad to open and shut his closet for what he knew would be at least two years. The only things left in his apartment were a photograph and the damaged jacket, folded neatly in the back of his closet, like the doubt which whispered in Naruto's mind, "Sasuke Uchiha is never coming back."

**Xx End xX**

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Thank you so much for taking the time to read this oneshot. I hope you enjoyed it. If you want to, drop me review; because, in all honesty, it will take you less than two minutes to write one and it will fill up your 'Good Things I Did Today' quota. : )

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Hello! This story of mine has been floating around for quite a while. It took me months to transfer it from the paper version to the computer, much less from uploading it here on ff. I don't really have much to say about this one. I'm satisfied with how it turned out.

The idea of his torn jacket just seemed to gnaw on me for a while. Sure Naruto healed because of the Kyuubi's chakra but the evidence of Sasuke's chidori was still there right? Was it destroyed when Naruto was admitted to the hospital? Did Kakashi or Tsunade get rid of it in consideration for Naruto's feelings? And then I thought that it didn't seem that anyone in the Narutoverse would even consider what the torn jacket would mean to Naruto, since he acts emotionally shallow most of the time.

The closet and how Naruto pushes the jacket to the back of it, where he can't see and is able to avoid it, is a kind of metaphor for his thoughts of Sasuke and the way he remebers only some things, but pushes the rest to the back of his mind so he doesn't have to confront them.

Until Next Time - Kuroi Fushichou


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